Zoës Kitchen, a fast-casual restaurant that delivers goodness from the inside out by creating homemade Mediterranean food, announced a sponsorship of Zoë Goes Running – a first-of-its kind undertaking by world-class runner Zoë Romano to bring awareness and raise funding for the World Pediatric Project (WPP). Zoë Romano, one of only a handful of women to run solo across the U.S., is on a mission to make history by becoming the first person to run the Tour de France. The effort is delivering goodness by raising funds to benefit the WPP, an organization that aims to save the lives of critically ill children.

Inspired by Zoë Romano’s efforts, Zoës Kitchen is giving guests the opportunity to get involved and support the project’s mission of delivering goodness to sick children through its “Give $5, Get $5” campaign. Give $5, Get $5, which launched last week, invites guests to help Zoë Romano’s cause by making a $5 donation to WPP, which Zoës Kitchen will then reward with a mobile app goodie for $5 off any menu item at Zoës Kitchen during the subsequent two-week period. Guests can make a donation at any Zoës Kitchen location, or online atwww.zoeskitchen.com[6] through July 20, 2013. Five days into the campaign, Zoës Kitchen is more than halfway towards reaching its goal of raising $50,000 for Zoë Goes Running and WPP.

“We are proud to be supporting Zoë Romano as she embarks on a truly extraordinary feat that will benefit such an important cause,” says Kevin Miles, CEO of Zoës Kitchen. “At Zoës Kitchen we are driven by a philosophy of delivering goodness, and we believe we have found a strong partner in Zoë as she is wholeheartedly aligned with this same mission. Our guests are incredibly generous and have already demonstrated how inspired they are by Zoë’s mission with significant donations in such a short period. I’m excited to personally be able to congratulate her as she crosses the finish line this July and share a large contribution to her cause on behalf of Zoës Kitchen and our guests.”

On a journey that began on May 18, Zoë is running more than 2,000 miles along the Tour de France course, averaging 30 miles per day, with the goal of completing the race in nine weeks – finishing in Paris one day ahead of the tour’s peloton. Zoë is aiming to secure at least 1,000 “team members” to pledge donations and help her raise at least $100,000 for WPP. The funds Zoë Romano and Zoës Kitchen jointly raise will send pediatric teams to WPP’s partner countries on week-long surgery missions and help bring four children to the U.S. for more complex care.

“We are in awe of the kindness and support we have already received from the Zoës Kitchen community! Our missions are really one in the same. We both want to deliver goodness and inspire others who can impact the world like Zoë Romano,” says Susan Rickman, president of World Pediatric Project. “We are honored to partner with Zoës Kitchen this summer and know we can achieve great things together.”